550 Digital Media Ventures, a subsidiary of Sony Broadband Entertainment, said that it sold its InfoBeat news and entertainment e-mail service to eUniverse Inc. for $9.94 million in eUniverse stock. In exchange, 550 DMV acquired a $17 million equity stake in eUniverse.
550 DMV will make a $5 million equity investment in eUniverse in exchange for a seat on the company's board of directors. The deal also gives eUniverse the option to convert a $2.1 million note to equity. 550 DMV said it is exploring options for marketing other Sony Group companies on eUniverse properties.
EUniverse, an interactive entertainment network, said InfoBeat will become part of its e-mail newsletter network. InfoBeat has nearly 8 million active subscribers and delivers 60 million e-mails weekly. EUniverse said it plans to continue sending the daily InfoBeat newsletter free to its subscribers.
